Art of obtaining lighter products from hydrocarbons



Oct. 2, 1-928.

' F. A. HOWARD ART OF OBTAINING LIGHTER PRODUCTS "FRQM'HYDRQCAABONS 1 I I I I l I I l I I l l l I i 1| glwuemtoz FkA/v/r A. f/MARD.

351 his QH OW Oct. 2, 1928.

F. A. HOWARD ART OF OBTAINING LIGHTER PRODUCTS FROM nnmocmaous Filed Aug. 16. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 THANK A. HQPYARD.

Patented Get. 2, 1928..

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venom/inner coluzesn A cenronn'rron' cr'nnnnwnnn v ART or OBTAINING LIGHTER rnonucrs FROM nrnnoonnnons.

-'-.App1icati0n filed August 16, 1922.. Serial No. 532,114.,

The present invention relates to" the art of obtaining lighter products from hydroca-n, bonoils by distillation or cracking, and W111 be fully understood from the following description taken in connection with" the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one form of apparatus contemplated in my invention, parts being broken away for clearnes's; and Figs. 2,3 and 4: are enlarged detail sections taken on the lines 22, 33 and H respectively,'of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows. Referring first to Fig. 1, the numeral 1 designates a furnace, setting arranged to be fired by a suitablefuel, for example oil, and heating a bath 2 of molten lead or alloys or material which is analogously fluid-at tem peraturesup to 900? F. A still 3 containingoilis placed in the molten bath and is arranged with disengageable 1 connections, and moving means so that it can be taken out when necessary,for cleaning, and be replaced by a freshly charged still. Traveling on suitable overhead rails 4: is a carriage comprising a framing 5 supported on flangedwheels 6 (of which there may be two at eachend) having shafts geared to be driven from a motor ,7 carried in the frame, so asto enable movement of the carriage as desired from positions over thestill to posi tions over cleaning and charging station supports beyond the furnace setting.v Mounted on suitable bearings, for instance of ball 'or cone type, are worm gear wheels8 meshing with a worm shaft 9 which is geared from a driving motor-10.? The gear wheels 8 are internally threaded or nut-threaded to engage with vertical stem-shafts .11 which are splined, or for example shaped somewhat hexagonally in cross'section andcorrespond ingly threaded on two'o'pposite faces and mounted to slide on their smooth faces in slideebearing's in the carriage, and carryvat their lower ends a platform 12., A pair of longitudinalshafts 13 is mounted in bearings on the platform 12 and geared to rock together,'by'means of segmentgears 14. On the projecting end of one of the shafts 13 is a worm wheell6 and meshing therewith is an'a'ctuating worm shaft 17 which may be rotated, as: required, by a hand-wheel 18, Fixed to the shafts 13 are arms '19 having extremities shaped for engaging notches N in projections 2 0.on the top of the still. These FRANK A. HOWARD, OF ELIZABETH, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO smamm ornamprojections may have shoulders which i I support a cover 22 .of'heat insulating material suitably strengthened and reinforced; and adapted to seat down against and form:

atop cover elementi -for the still heating chamber in the instances whe're'a cover is desired. The shafts 13 with'arms 1 9,Ietc1,

it will. be noticed forma mechanism actuated by hand-wheel 18by which the still cambe gripped to the carriage forv moving when desired.

Arranged onthe projections 20 are recess es 23 tOI'QCGlVQ the ends .of arms 24 which are fixed on and swung by the shafts 25' supported in bearings on the I beams'26, the shafts 25 being in turn actuated through worm gearing 2. and thehand-wheel oper lock the still inposition inuse and f'which ated vertical shaft28f and beinggeai'ed to i turn together by bevelgearwheels1 2i5.

suitable intermediate crossshafting. l The'vapor-pipe 29 from the stillhasa flange joint 30, which ,advantageously is of the quick detachable type, and leads through a double elbow, foradjustment, to s a vaporline manifoldj33 and a suitable condenser system, not shown forpsimplification; A

pipe 34 isalso provided in whichtheistill pressure (in, instances where operating under pressure) may be released when requlred as a preliminary to Jd sconn'ecting.

use and the ,connection onto .the st ill, advantageously "embody a [cut-off valve, such for instance-as the outer valve member 31 fitting by a slight. taper onthe inner/valve member 36 fixed to. the still-dome3T and having ports. alining' when the still is in operating. position, but closed off when .the pipe 29 is turned somewhat downwardly;

A nut 39 and'washer serves to hold the'valve V c v j Suitable}- valves 32and 35. are arranged for shutoff gripper-arms during the time their actuating wheel 18 happens to be in elevated position between the struts of the carriage frame.

To prevent. damage from over-run by the; stem-shafts 11, circuit-breakers are provided,

the boxes being placed in the operating cage to permit manual resetting of the switch,

, cooperating therewith.

and the contact-tappets T being attached at the proper points on shaft 11 and positions In operation, the furnace being fired and the molten bath brought to the desired temperature, a still or container charged with oil while resting on the supports at the cleaning and charging station is picked up and trans ferred to the'molten bath by the overhead carriage. "To do this, the attendant operates the driving inotor,7 by its controller rheostat in the operatingcage 34L so as to bring the carriage to the overhead registry point,'then operates the motor by its controller 'rheostat so as to rotate the shaft 9 and turn the nut-gears 8 to lower the stem-shafts and automatically opened by the movement. The

the gripper-arms 19 7 supported therefrom,

into reach ofthe projections 20 on top of the still; he then turns the hand-wheel 18 to actuatelthe wogm gearing and theshafts to-swing the grlpper-arms 19 into holding engagement'in the notches, and againoperates the driving motor to bring the carriage to thefoverhead registry point for the furnace, lowers the still or container by motor 10 sufficiently {to permit connecting up the joint 30, then opens the valve 32 andv lowers the still into final position, the valve 31 being stocks I" contemplate a pressure as high as 350 lbs. or more for example.

7 When the still contents havebeen reduced to the" point. desired, and in some cases,

where the stock admits, I contemplate running the charge to dryness, the valve 32 is shut and valve 35 is opened to release the pressure into the release line. In .the instances of distillation without pressure the valve 35 of course need not be used. The carriage is then brought into position and theIst-ill is engaged and lifted sufficiently to shut, if it had been open, the automatic valve 31. .Valve 35 is then shut and the joint 30 disconnected and the still israised on up and carried away to the cleaning and charging station and a freshly-charged still is brought in and put into operation, etc.

The stills are of course equipped as usual with temperature and pressure indicating instruments, safety valves, and connections for feed and withdrawal of oil, etc. i

Although a one-still installation may be replaced by a fresh still, it is more advantageous to have the installation large enough to include more than one still at a time, the

units being charged and replaced in regular rotation.

While I have reference to'certain specific details, it will be understood'that this is; for the purpose of illustration rather than-limitation,*and the invention is limited only as defined inthe following claims, in which it islmy intention to claim all inherent novelty as broadly as the prior art permits.

What I claim is: r

1. A systematic method of heat treating hydrocarbon oil, comprising contacting a distillation vessel containing the oil with a molten material maintained at a high temperature, collecting the distillate and break ing said contact of distillation vessel with said molten material as soon as the distillation is substantially completed.

2. A systematic method of cracking hy drocarbon oil, comprising contacting in ro-l tation a plurality of distillationvessels containing the hydrocarbon oil, with a anolte'ri bath maintained at a high temperature, collecting the vapors evolved, and breaking described my invention with worked satisfactorily, the still at the completion of its run being taken out and said contact as soon as the evolution of I vapors is substantially complete. v

3. Alsystematic method for cracking by droc'arbon oils in a cycle of successive oper ations, comprising chargingthe hydrocarbon oil into a pluralityof distillation veS- sels, contacting said vessels in rotation with a a moltenbath maintained at a high temperature, collecting distillate, breaking said contact as 'soonas the distillation is substantially complete, cleaning said vessels and recharging the same with hydrocarbon oil in rotation.

4. Apparatus of the character described,

which comprises a container for a material which is liquidwhen heated, a receptacle for holding oil adapted'to be removably placed in said container, means for holding'thereceptacle largely submerged in the "liquid and means on said receptacle whereby the recepta'cle can be engaged to be lifted out.

5. Apparatus of the character described,

which comprises a lead bath, a furnace for heating said lead bath, a plurality of stills adapted to be removably placed insaid lead bath, a vapor off-take pipe for each still, a detachable joint in each said pipe, lockingarms adapted to hold the stills in position arms, stem-shafts for bodily raising, and

lowering said gripping-arms, a carriage supporting the stem-shafts and means for laterally moving the carriage.

6. Apparatus of the character described, which comprises a furnace, a heat-transmitting medium adapted to be heated and maintained in a liquid state thereby, a still adapted to be removably placed in said heat transmitting medium, a vapor oflf-take. pipe,

a detachable joint in said pipe, a shutoff valve on each side of thejoint, means for holding the still in position inthe heattransmitting medium'such thata large part of the still is submerged, and means for moving the still into or out of the heattransmitting medium. 7 1

FRANK A; HOWARD. 

